Perpetual Ltd Makes New Investment in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake of 31,506 shares in Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS), valued at approximately $2.05 million in the fourth quarter.
• Strong quarterly results and dividend raise: LVS reported EPS of $0.85 versus $0.77 expected and revenue of $3.65B (up 26% YoY), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 (annualized $1.20, ~2.2% yield).
• Insider and analyst moves: CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares (a ~10.5% reduction in his holdings), while analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $68.55 average target price.

Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 31,506 shares of the casino operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,051,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $2,902,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 8,528 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,945 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on LVS. Barclays set a $64.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Macquarie Infrastructure reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $75.50 to $76.75 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.55.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $54.37 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12-month low of $30.18 and a 12-month high of $70.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.50% and a return on equity of 91.40%. Las Vegas Sands's revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is 51.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total transaction of $3,294,033.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 511,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. The trade was a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Las Vegas Sands Profile

Las Vegas Sands NYSE: LVS is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, focused on large-scale properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining, and entertainment. The company's operations center on developing and managing full-service resort complexes that serve both leisure and business travelers, with emphasis on convention and trade-show business in addition to gaming revenue streams.

The company's portfolio has included prominent properties in North America and Asia, most notably The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with a significant presence in Macau through multiple integrated resorts.

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